Review of 'The 12th Planet'

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Things to beware of in 1997:
New Russian civil strife.
______________________________________________________________________
The following file is courtesy of HUFON REPORT, the
newsletter of the Houston UFO Network.
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THE 12th PLANET - by Zecharia Sitchin
Reviewed by Vince Johnson
In his book "The 12th Planet," Zecharia Sitchin presents ev-
idence not only of contact by extraterrestrial beings thou-
sands of years ago, but that these beings genetically engin-
eered Homo Sapiens to serve them.
Sitchin began his inquiry when he came across the term Nefi-
lim during Talmudic study as a boy. His teacher explained
that the word meant "giants" when describing the "sons of
the deities" who married the daughters of Man, although the
literal Hebrew translation of Nefilim was "those who were
cast down." Sitchin never accepted the "giants" explanation,
and his curiosity about the Nefilim was the impetus for
"The 12th Planet."
The book begins with a short anthropological history of Man,
starting with Australopithecus some two million years ago.
Six hundred thousand years later came the Neanderthal, who,
according to Sitchin, used the same tools as his more primi-
tive ancestors (although the latest findings indicate Nean-
derthals were more sophisticated than Sitchin describes).
Then, a mere 35,000 years ago, Homo Sapiens appears. The
author quotes a Dr.T. Dobzhansk, "Modern Man has many fossil
collateral relatives, but no progenitors; the derivation of
Homo Sapiens then becomes a puzzle."
As far as current archaeological knowledge can reveal, the
first true civilization arose in Mesopotamian Sumer, located
in present-day Iraq, at least 6,000 years ago. Sumerian
culture exploded onto the scene virtually overnight, the
cradle of human civilization.
A description of Sumer is a list of "firsts" for the human
race. Among these "firsts" are: the first schools, the first
historian, the first method of writing, the first library,
the first doctors and pharmacopoeia, the first agriculture
(and first "farmers' almanac"), the first musical notation,
the first bicameral legislature, and the first taxes. The
Sumerian legal code (also a first) included protection for
divorced women and price controls on foodstuffs and wagon
rentals. Their religion influenced all that followed, with
elements of the Sumerian creation epic filtered through the
ages into the Old Testament (the garden of Eden, the evil
serpent, the great flood, etc.). But Sitchin's analysis of
Sumerian astronomy and cosmology is of most interest. It is
Sitchin's belief that astronomical knowledge actually de-
clined from the Sumerian period, with much of the Sumerian
astronomical knowledge only rediscovered during the Coperni-
can revolution.
To support this thesis, the author describes the astronomi-
cal knowledge of the ancient Greeks, who came more than
3,000 years after the Sumerians. It is historical fact that
the Greeks not only understood that the Earth was a sphere,
but had calculated its size to amazing accuracy. The Greek,
Hipparchus, knew of the heliocentric (sun-centered) astro-
nomical system. Hipparchus was also aware of the phenomenon
known as precession of the equinoxes, a cyclical wobble of
Earth's axis that takes 2,160 years to complete. To under-
stand this phenomenon one would assume that Hipparchus had
to draw upon astronomical data at least that old. Two hun-
dred years before Hipparchus, Eudoxes of Cnidus designed a
celestial sphere representing the constellations and attri-
buted their zodiacal designations to "men of yore."
Sitchin writes, "Were the early Greek astronomers living in
Asia Minor better informed than their successors because
they could draw on Mesopotamian sources?" Sumerian astronomy
and the required mathematics used to describe and predict
celestial events were remarkably advanced. They utilized a
unit of measure called dub, which has been translated to
mean both the 360 degree circumference of the Earth, and the
"arch of the heavens." Not only were the Sumerians aware of
the spherical nature of the world, they used the concepts of
the equator, poles, and lines of longitude and latitude.
Also, the apparent retrograde motions of the planets (due to
differences in orbital radii) were understood 6,000 years
before renaissance-era astronomers would solved the puzzle.
An accurate Sumerian calendar dating back to 4400bc acknowl-
edged the precessional shift from 2,160 years before. The
Sumerians used a 12-based numbering system which still in-
fluences numbering today; numbers 1-12 have individual names
while subsequent numbers are contractions. The number 12 was
very significant to the Sumerians, representing the number
of their principle gods which were synonymous with the plan-
ets known to them (they included the Moon and the Sun in
their count). Does this mean that the Sumerians were aware
of all of the planets known to us today, or was it just
coincidence?
Sitchin describes numerous cylinder seals showing what he
interprets to be schematic diagrams of the solar system.
These diagrams often show a planet larger than Earth between
the orbits of Mars and Jupiter. These diagrams, along with
Sumerian, Babylonian, and Akkadian creation epics lead Sit-
chin to believe that a collision of planets occurred early
in the history of the solar system. Certain aspects of these
ancient texts can support Sitchin's theory, for instance:
the "gods" (planets) have "destinies" (orbits) and "cast out
their nets" (gravitational attraction).
According to Sitchin, the 12th planet, Marduk, while making
its approach to the sun (in a highly elliptical orbit) in-
teracted with the other planets of the solar system, fling-
ing Pluto into its current peculiar orbit. Marduk, or one of
its satellites, then collided with a planet called Tiamat,
which occupied an orbit between Mars and Jupiter. The Sumer-
ians described it like this:
Tiamat and Marduk, the wisest of gods,
Advanced against one another;
They pressed on to single combat,
They approached for battle.
After he had slain Tiamat, the leader,
Her band was broken, her host broken up,
The gods, her helpers who marched at her side,
Trembling with fear,
Turned their backs about so as to save
And preserve their lives.
Sitchin interprets "the host, the helper gods" to be the
moons of Tiamat which "turned their backs" or changed orbi-
tal motions. He suggests that the "shattered band" became
the comets and the asteroid belt. But of most importance,
the bulk of Tiamat's debris fell into a new orbit and would
become Earth.
The Hebrew texts mirror the Sumerian in several respects. In
Genesis, the Lord hovers over Tehom (the Hebrew version of
Tiamat), and the lightning of the Lord (Marduk in Babylon-
ian) lit the darkness as it hit and split Tiamat, creating
the Earth and the "hammered bracelet" Raika (the asteroid
belt). In the Akkadian version, Marduk creates the "hammered
bracelet" by stretching out Tiamat's "lower part" into a
great circle.
Such is the Sumerian story of creation. Since these events
presumably occurred before the dawn of Man, how do the Su-
merians come by this account? Sitchin believes it was the
Nefilim who told the story to the Sumerians.
According to Sitchin's theory, the Nefilim were engaged in
mining operations on the Earth. To support this, he presents
evidence of mining activity in Africa (through carbon-14
dating) 100,000 years ago. To further support this notion,
Sitchin presents a Sumerian carving showing the god of
mining, Ea, emerging from a mine pit. Lightning-type rays
are emitted by the god, servants are seen holding up shields
between themselves and Ea. Texts refer to "blue stones that
cause ill," which Sitchin interprets as radioactive cobalt.
The texts refer to the underworld as Kur.Nu.Gi.A, "the land
where gods who work in deep tunnels pile up the ores." Ulti-
mately, the Nefilim miners mutinied against their masters,
declaring:
Excessive toil has killed us,
Our work is heavy, the distress much...
While the Birth Goddess is present,
Let her create a Primitive Worker,
Let him bear the yoke...
Let him carry the toil of the gods!
Marduk responds:
I will produce a lowly primitive;
Man shall be his name,
I shall create a Primitive Worker;
He will be charged in the service of the gods
that they might have their ease.
It is Sitchin's theory that a mutiny of the Nefilim led to
the creation of Mankind. The Nefilim genetically altered a
hominid with some of their own DNA, producing a useful hy-
brid - Man. To support this, he quotes a Babylonian text:
Let one god be bled..
From his flesh and blood,
Let Ninti mix the clay..
The new-born's' fate thou shalt pronounce;
Ninti would fix upon it the image of the gods;
And what it will be is Man.
The god chosen to provide the blood was named TE.E.MA, which
translates to "that which houses that which binds the mem-
ory," which could be interpreted as an allegorical pre-tech-
nological description of "genes." Furthermore, the Akkadian
term for clay is tit in Hebrew, which is synonymous with bos
(mud) and shares a linguistic root with bisa (marsh) and,
interestingly, besa (egg).
To further support the notion that Mankind was created to
serve the Nefilim, Sitchin submits that the Hebrew term used
to describe Man's relationship to the gods was not "worship"
but avod (work). Ancient Man did not worship the Nefilim, he
worked for them.
Sitchin's theory could explain the rapid rise and technical
prowess of Sumerian civilization. But what became of the
Nefilim? The author suggests that they either became aware
of, or were the cause of, the coming flood. The Nefilim
blasted off, leaving the Earth to Man, or at least the few
that would survive the coming catastrophe. All evidence of
the Nefilim's existence was buried under tons of mud.
While The 12th Planet does present some interesting data,
there are some weaknesses in Sitchin's theory. For instance,
he believes the Nefilim came from Marduk, the 12th planet.
One would have to wonder how life could have evolved on a
planet with an orbit that took it far beyond the orbit of
Pluto.
Sitchin also describes Nefilim space technology with a deci-
dedly Apollo-era slant (the book was written in 1976). He
produces evidence for the idea that the Nefilim used LEM
(Lunar Excursion Module) style landers, and that they also
"splashed-down" in the Indian Ocean. He even goes so far as
to suggest that the reason the Nefilim chose Mesopotamia for
their colony was the availability of fossil fuels. If the
Nefilim came from Marduk, a planet presumably locked in a
permanent deep-freeze, they would probably have had much
more efficient means of energy generation than burning oil.
Sitchin also makes many unqualified declarations regarding
the goings-on in ancient Sumer. To be objective when dealing
with subject matter as speculative as this, he should have
incorporated terms like "could, might" and "possibly" rather
than making unqualified statements of fact.
That being said, Sitchin does present a mystery; how could
the Sumerians have so rapidly achieved such a high level of
civilization with no predecessors to draw on? That they re-
ceived instruction from alien beings which they regarded as
gods is no more implausible than any other explanation. EOF
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This article originally appeared in the October 1991 edition
of HUFON REPORT.
... "It's not the years, it's the mileage." - Indiana Jones